Holding digital assets in trust with a Swedish trustee

The legal basis: a trustee, not a trust

Sweden is a civil law jurisdiction and has no trust law. There is no such thing as a Swedish trust, just as there is no Swiss trust. What Sweden does regulate is the activity of professional trust management, which falls under Swedish AML/CFT legislation implementing the EU anti-money-laundering directives.

A Swedish Trust Company is therefore a Swedish limited company registered as a regulated provider of trust management services, supervised for AML/CFT purposes. It acts as trustee. Each trust it administers is created by a trust deed governed by a law chosen by the settlor — typically a common law jurisdiction such as Jersey or England — as recognised under Article 6 of the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition.

Holding versus exchange and transfer services

Holding digital assets as trustee is trust management. Operating an exchange, wallet service or crypto transfer service for the public is a different activity, regulated in the EU under MiCA and in Sweden historically under currency exchange rules.

If your model involves exchanging or transmitting crypto or fiat for customers, the trust company should not be the operating entity for that business. For US money services, a Montana MSB can be added to the structure.

What the trust company does not do

A Swedish Trust Company is not a bank, credit institution, electronic money institution or payment institution. It may not take deposits from the public, extend credit as a business, or make payment services its core activity. Payments made on behalf of trust clients must remain incidental to trust management.

Where a business model needs money transmission, card issuing or IBAN accounts, those services are provided by separately licensed partners, or by adding a Montana MSB to the structure for US money services.

Questions